As anxiety over Trump election grows, Colorado officials reach out to ease tension

Trump supporters react as Fox News predict Donald Trump will win North Carolina at the Republican Party of Seminole County, Fla. Election Watch event on Tuesday in Altamonte Springs, near Orlando. (Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel)

For Amber Timmons, the hate came from all directions after Donald Trump was elected president.

Someone painted anti-LGBT graffiti, Trump's name and a swastika on her SUV. A Latino friend was harassed with an ethnic epithet at an Aurora gas station. And across the street from her Cheesman Park apartment, Timmons could see red paint splattered across a "Black Lives Matter" banner hanging on the wall of a church.

Timmons, a transgender woman, has been swept up in the tension among people of color, the gay community, Muslims and even some women. It has caught the attention of local, state and federal law enforcement in Colorado and compelled them to reach out.

The tension led Bob Troyer, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, to issue a statement late last week condemning hate crimes and pledging to prosecute those who commit them.

"That message is one people need to be reminded of at different times," Troyer said. "All of a sudden, in the past 10 days, we find ourselves compelled to send that message to people who feel vulnerable or who feel fear and anxiety whether it's over immigration or gender or race issues."

The governor went on to urge Trump and his growing group of advisers to soothe fears.

"They have a real opportunity and responsibility to settle it," Hickenlooper said.

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The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups and hate crime nationally, said it had received 701 reports of hateful intimidation and harassment between Nov. 9 and Nov. 16. Ten of those originated in Colorado, according to the organization.

The Colorado cases have involved harassment of blacks, Latinos and gay people, according to a list compiled by the law center. They have happened on college campuses as well as middle and high school campuses. In one case, someone left a profane message on the voice mail of a civil rights law firm.

"The waters of racial resentment in this country run very deep, and it took the election of Donald Trump to realize they were boiling," said Ryan Lenz, editor of the SPLC's HateWatch magazine.

It is hard to determine exactly how many incidents have occurred because reports can range from rude comments in parking lots that are never reported to hate crimes that can be prosecuted in federal courts.

In Boulder, the University of Colorado has reported nine incidents of harassment since Nov. 1, including fliers with discriminatory language posted at the school's Women and Gender Studies Department, the Daily Camera reported.

Reports of intimidation and harassment in Boulder County became so widespread that District Attorney Stan Garnett called a meeting Wednesday night in Longmont to reassure people that they would be safe. More than 400 attended.

While most reports have been hearsay and rumor, they have come from both sides of the political aisle, he said.

"We've had Trump supporters tell us they were spit upon or harassed," Garnett said. "And we've had people in the minority community tell us they have been spit upon and harassed."

In Denver, the police department has reported four bias-motivated crimes since the election, a fifth of all that have happened in 2016, said Raquel Lopez, a department spokeswoman. All four crimes have been labeled criminal mischief, which includes graffiti and other property damage.

On Wednesday, Timmons awoke to find someone had used black spray paint to write "die tranny" and other hate messages on her Nissan SUV.

Timmons and her roommate Rachael DeMers said they worry about their safety because the vandal must know them. Both blamed rhetoric from the campaign for emboldening those who harbor hatred toward the LGBTQ community and other minority groups.

"We have someone who is supposed to be our biggest role model who should be extremely outspoken about the hatred and bigotry against minorities and women who instead has brought out the hate," Timmons said. "When you have a role model who comes out and speaks like that, it makes everyone who speaks like that feel empowered and that their thoughts and feelings are right."

On Nov. 10, Amaya said two white men approached him at a gas station, called him an ethnic slur and said: "We can't wait for the wall to get built so we can throw you back over it."

Amaya said he was thankful they could only see his ethnicity. He drove away and then decided to join a protest that night in which an estimated 5,000 people marched through downtown Denver to speak out against Trump's policies and opinions.

"We keep hearing, 'It's over, deal with it,'" Amaya said. "I don't have to deal with it. I don't have to be quiet. Being quiet means I'm going to allow it to happen."

Incidents such as the one experienced by Amaya cannot be prosecuted. In Colorado, harassment is defined by extended or prolonged behavior that causes distress, Garnett said.

"Merely having an opinion that is offensive in Colorado is rarely anything of criminal consequence," he said. "People are entitled to their opinions, but they're not entitled to harm others because of those opinions."

Even before Trump won the election, hate crimes in Colorado happened about once every three days, according to the FBI's 2015 Hate Crime Report.

The report, released last week, showed 107 incidents happened statewide. And that doesn't include the cities and counties whose law enforcement agencies don't participate in the data collection.

In comparison, there were 95 reported incidents in Colorado in the FBI's 2014 report.

Nationally, the FBI reported 5,850 hate crimes in 2015. That number also reflected an increase over the previous year, although the FBI warns against year-to-year comparisons because of reporting issues such as changing definitions of crimes and inconsistent participation by law enforcement agencies.

Last year, 5,818 cases involved 7,121 victims who were targeted for a single reason whether it be race, religion or gender. Another 32 cases involved 52 victims who were attacked for multiple reasons, the FBI reported.

Scott Levin, director of the Mountain States Region of the Anti-Defamation League, said there is no direct line between the election and the ongoing tension. But the bruising political battle has fanned flames.

Trump's words about women, Latinos and Muslims have made it worse, he said.

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